PRO's and CONS' for PO closing process in ECC 6.0

[Oscar_DC]

All good morning,

In my company the process to "close" a PO is not truly defined. As we all know there are multiple ways to "close" a PO when the receipts are less than the PO quantity. We're using ECC 6.0

1) We can make the PO qty match the receipts manually. Procurement sometimes does this. If we continue to match the PO qty with the receipts, how will I evaluate my vendors correctly ? It will look like my vendors are always delivering me 100% of the order quantity when I run reports. I like populating the final delivery indicator always -due to limits on each PO item - I think that populating the final delivery indicator makes reporting easier.

2) We can make the PO qty match the receipts manually & add the final delivery indicator . This is better than option 1, but procurement still has to manually match the receipts with the PO quantities, and I still won't get the correct information to evaluate vendors.

3) We can set the deletion flag on the item. This would solve my problem, because I would be able to see what was and what wasn't delivered on the PO item to better evaluate my vendors. However, if procurement does this before we get an invoice, then we wont' be able to process the invoice in MIRO.

4) Implement an enhancement so that no further GRs can be done for a PO item after the final delivery indicator is set

I want to make the PO closing easy for my folks, so I'm tempted to implement what is described in this blog: https://blogs.sap.com/2009/12/31/delivery-complete-indicator-of-po-and-goods-receipt/

5) Set the latest document goods receipt and the final delivery indicator

Without the enhancement for option 4, this would fulfill my needs. I'd rather do the enhancement so that the indicator makes more sense for my procurement team.

What are you guys doing to close PO's and why are you doing it that way? Which issues are you having? What do you consider to be the best practice for this?

I know there are other questions that address this, but option 4 was not available until ECC EHP4, and I have not found any reference to it on existing answers.

Thank you!

[DominikTylczyn · Accepted solution]

Hello 01224e03a1874b69919eab14e401e433

That's a very good question indeed! Here are my insights.

Ad 1. Don't If you change PO quantity to match GR quantity, you are loosing information on how much was actually ordered. That information is vital for vendor evaluation. If you loose it, the vendor quantity reliability analyses i.e. the MC$8 transaction, goes out of the window. Besides, unless you specify zero over delivery tolerance, such an alignment won't prevent further GR postings.

Ad 2. Do/Don't Just put final delivery indicator on a PO item but don't update the quantity (see previous point) That's the way to go in my mind as this way you are correctly reflecting business reality in the system. You have ordered more than has been actually delivered but you don't expect the PO to be delivered fully.

Ad 3. Don't Mark deletion flag on the items that you really want to be deleted, not on the items that you want to close. Deletion flag should be used with PO archiving.

Ad 4. Do but only if you really want to prevent further GR for PO item with final delivery indicator. There is really no golden rule here, it all depends on your business process and we could argue for long whether GR should be allowed or not for items with final delivery indicator.

Ad 5. Do/Don't I'd use latest goods receipt only if you have a valid business reason to restrict GR after certain date. I'd rather not use it just to close PO items.

The bottom line is - go for "final delivery" flag with an optional enhancement to prevent further GRs.

Best regards

Dominik Tylczynski

[Oscar_DC · Accepted solution]

Dominik, thank you so much for your detailed answer. Your response makes perfect sense and has helped me clarify doubts and be more comfortable with my recommendation to the business.

You should turn this response into a blog if you have the chance ! Most responses only discuss the mechanics of how to do it, there's few that talk about why to do and not to do certain things.

Thanks again!

[bhumi_1star · Accepted solution]

Hello every one,

Its really a good question has been raised and also 3a9e4ce873a94034b33dc62b0ce600ee has explained in very clear language.

I am totally agree what he has answered.

For 1 st Option, its manual process and even not a fruitful option as per Vendor evaluation perspective.

For 2nd Option its also a manual process but will provide clear picture as per delivered qty and pending qty.

For 3rd Option, its not a positive approach for this.

For 4th Option , it will be more clear as per business perspective that once delivery indicator is set then no more GR.

For 5th Option, it will require 4th option to be satisfied.

Bhumika

[BijayKumarBarik]

1 and 2 are manual options for business user, also option 3

4th option business may not agree and 5th option is an alternate facility to control, 1 or 2 POs in case of an issue.

At the moment all business wanted rocket type solution and resolve all issue/s in one go!

Better create a custom t.code( options to select one or all with of deletion ind, final delvry ind and final inv ind)which is background update a PO/POs based on input selection/s but its with business user side before action on PO to check PO report with MB5S and then run MR11 in case of any GR/IR issue!

[Oscar_DC]

Thank you for your answer Bijay. I do need to take a deeper look at the MR11 process out here, I'm not sure how/when that is currently being done.

[BijayKumarBarik]

Solution depends on how business is demanding!

Expert/Consultant should provide multiples options- its up to business and business owner call how to react for permanent resolution once for all.